Call a bus! Christopher Meloni is picking up his Law & Order badge and gun once again.
According to Deadline, Meloni will reprise his fan-favorite Law & Order: SVU character for a new series following Elliot Stabler leading the NYPD's organized crime unit. Deadline reports it's a 13-episode series order as part of the massive new deal Dick Wolf signed with the company that saw SVU, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med all get three-season renewals.
Meloni played Stabler alongside Mariska Hargitay for the first 12 seasons of Law & Order: SVU. He exited the drama between season 12 and 13 when contract negotiations fell through.
In the season 12 finale Stabler was involved in a shootout in the precinct and it was explained that he retired following his leave of absence. Hargitay has remained the anchor on the long-running SVU as her character, Olivia Benson, has moved up in ranks to captain.
Despite fan fervor, Meloni has never returned to SVU, which is now in its history-making 21st season. Ahead of the season 21 premiere, SVU showrunner Warren Leight said, "someday, I would hope to see [Stabler] again."
"I don't know how, I don't know when, but, yeah, that's kind of, I think the fans and Benson and Stabler are owed that," Leight said.
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